


Heart of the Sky

by Pegasus143



Series: Polyship Week 2019 [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, F/M, M/M, Multi, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Suicidal Ideation, polyshipweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 04:17:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasus143/pseuds/Pegasus143
Summary: It was only a matter of time before someone found out Markus' secret.





	Heart of the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 3 of [Polyshipprompts' Polyship Week](https://polyshipprompts.tumblr.com/post/186457981563/it-is-time-my-friends-followers-and-various)  
The [wings AU prompt](https://polyshipprompts.tumblr.com/post/161548243237/imagine-person-a-of-your-polyship-has-wings-that) I chose was "Imagine person a of your polyship has wings that they go to great lengths to hide. They don't plan on showing their wings to anyone, but somehow, accidentally, the rest of the polyship finds out."

Markus glanced around, double-checking the empty street to make sure no one was following him. The evacuation of Detroit was still under effect, but it wasn’t the humans he was worried about.  
He practically ran up the steps of an abandoned building near the harbor, the end of his long coat fluttering up behind him. One of the YK500s had said it made him look like a superhero, and a whole group of them had drawn pictures of “Super-Markus” and given them to him. He cried that night while Josh, North, and Simon had fawned over the pictures. He’d finally convinced them to put the drawings away when he promised he would hang them up “tomorrow”. Tomorrow never came.  
He didn’t blame his lovers for that day. They’d given him every ounce of patience and understanding, even when they were complete strangers. Like the day he said he liked to spend time alone, that it helped him clear his thoughts. If anything, his mind became murkier during his twilight strolls. Relaxation and freedom mixed with horror and shame like too many colors of paint on one palate, mixed with an unskilled hand. But Elijah-Fucking-Kamski was the student-turned-master, the humans’ golden child. _Surely_ he could do no wrong.   
Oh, how the humans were wrong. They were wrong about everything. Androids were alive. Kamski wasn’t the greatest genius. Markus wasn’t Robo-Jesus. If anyone, he was Jonah: lacking in faith, running from the truth. He didn’t blindly believe that he could just _expose_ himself to the whale of judgement and everything would be fine. He’d never been “fine”. Even under Carl’s reassurances that he wasn’t a freak like the protestors had said.   
His muscles ached as he slipped off his coat, letting it fall onto the roof of the building. They’d been in D.C. for three days working on negotiations. Three days and three nights hiding his secret without respite. They’d only just arrived back in Detroit before he ran off and up, up, up, to what was both his heaven and his hell.   
His fingers trembled as he undid the buttons of his shirt. No one ever saw him with this little clothing on, not since Carl passed. He missed his father so much, but that man was also one of the reasons why he felt so alone, even in the midst of his people.  
He glanced down the stairwell, checking just one more time to make sure no one was there. Kicking away a shard of glass that _wasn’t_ covered with snow, he pulled his shirt off. A pair of magnificent wings unfurled, their sepia feathers catching the light of the sun’s first rays. Just a few minutes before the sun would be up. Just a few minutes before he’d put away his dark secret once again.  
He stepped out onto the ledge and jumped, wings flapping almost instinctively. He didn’t know why Elijah Kamski had given him them – he’d never thought to ask until it was too late. Maybe it was another one of his sick tests, like Connor had described. Could an android feel empathy for another android who was different in some way? Could an android do the thing it seemed like so few humans could?  
The wind swirled around him, almost like the water down below, soothing his aching muscles as he glided back down to the roof. Three figures waited there.  
As he landed, he turned back around, wanting to face the sky rather than his most trusted companions as they learned the truth.   
“Markus, wait!” Of course they would make him face them. He turned around. “We just wanted to make sure you were okay. You ran off so fast after we got back. We thought something was wrong.”  
“Congratulations,” Markus said dryly. “Now you’ve found out what’s wrong with me.”  
“Markus, nothing is wrong with you.” Simon stepped toward him as he spoke again.  
“Go ahead, cast me out already. You don’t really need a fr—“ He sighed, unable to bring himself to say it. “--Someone like me.”  
“Markus, we are not letting you go,” North said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards them.   
“Why? I’m not like the rest of you. I’m not really a person. Not with these.” He forced out a dry laugh.  
“We always said we’d be able to face anything, together. This doesn’t change anything,” Josh said, pulling him in for a hug.  
Touch-starved, his wings moved to surround Josh in a feathery embrace. He pulled back. “If you love me… let me die here. So I can be free.”  
“You can _live_ free, with us. We still love you, Markus. But now, we get to love every part of you.”  
“This isn’t a burden on us. If you don’t want us to see them ever again, that’s fine. No matter what you choose, we’ll always love you,” Simon said, taking one of Markus’ hands and taking a step toward the stairs.  
“How am I supposed to believe you?! The only person who knew and still loved me was Carl, but he’s dead now! He said he wanted to die; he left me!” Markus let out a sob.  
“That was him, and this is us,” North said, blinking back her own tears. _Shit, I’m making her cry._ “_Our_ love doesn’t include leaving.”  
“I feel like I’ve just been playing the hero this whole time. I don’t want to be the hero. I don’t want to be the savior. How am I supposed to, when I can’t even handle my own problems?” The tears flowed steadily down, down, down.  
“If you don’t want to lead, you don’t have to,” Josh said. “There are other people who can do that. None of us have to fight, or negotiate, or lead if we don’t want to. But you’re still worth something – you’re still a _person_ \-- even if you don’t.”  
“I wish Kamski had never given me these things. Or that everyone had them. I’m just _done_ with being different.”  
“Come home with us. Come home, and we’ll figure it out. Together.”  
“Okay. I will.” His wings ached for the touch they’d almost had. “Just… I need a hug first.”   
His wings wrapped around the three of them, relishing the warmth of their bodies. “You can touch them.” Relishing the warmth of their gentle-but-curious touches. He kissed each of them, long and deep and slow. For now, he had faith in them.


End file.
